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IN SEPTEMBER 1973 POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH AND STATES ATTENDED A CONVENTION TO REVIEW THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION. THE WEEK LONG DISCUSSIONS WERE DOMINATED BY REPETITIOUS ASSERTIONS OF STATE RIGHTS & ADHERENCE BY SPEAKERS TO THE DECLARED POLICIES OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES TO WHICH THEY BELONGED.

UNCERTAINTIES CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE EMERGING INTERNATIONAL ORDER ARE NOWHERE GREATER THAN IN THE VAST REGION OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC. THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES A PESSIMISTIC READING, HISTORICAL LEGACIES, ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, THREATS IN SECURITY, REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS, AND, A CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS. IT CONCLUDES THAT THERE ARE GROUND FOR CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM.

EUROPEAN UNION (EU) WATER LEGISLATION IS NOW VERY EXTENSIVE IN SCOPE AND HAS MAJOR COST IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MEMBER STATES, FOR THE WATER INDUSTRY, AND FOR CONSUMERS. ALTHOUGH PARTICIPATION IN THE POLICY FORMULATION PROCESS WAS FAIRLY NARROWLY BASED IN THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PROGRAMME OF LEGISLATION, MORE RECENTLY PARTICIPATION HAS BECOME MORE EXTENDED. THE EU WATER POLICY PROCESS IS AN EXAMPLE OF RATHER LOOSE AND MORE OPEN ISSUE NETWORK OR CONSTELLATION OF ACTORS, RATHER THAN A CLOSED AND RESTRICTED POLICY COMMUNITY. IT IS, HOWEVER, POSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY A CORE OF CENTRAL ACTORS WITHIN THIS LOOSE CONFIGURATION. EVEN SO, THE AGENDA SETTING PROCESS REMAINS UNPREDICTABLE AND ISSUES ARE PROCESSED VIA THE INTERACTION OF A SERIES OF ADVOCACY COALITIONS WHICH LIKE EPISTEMIC COMMUNITIES OF SCIENTISTS (ESPECIALLY TOXICOLOGISTS) INTO A WIDER AND MORE VISIBLE POLITICAL WORLD. BECAUSE OF THE HIGH SALIENCE OF WATER POLICY THROUGHOUT THE UNION, ISSUE EXPANSION, RATHER THAN ISSUE CONTRACTION, IS LIKELY TO REMAIN THE NORM. THE END RESULT MAY BE RATHER "GARBAGE CAN" IN ITS CHARACTERISTICS - NAMELY "ORGANISED ANARCHIES CHARACTERISED BY PROBLEMATIC PREFERENCES, UNCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND FLUID PARTICIPATION".

Individuals who become visually impaired need to adapt in the way they perform tasks. This article describes three classes of change involved in improving the daily living skills of persons with visual impairments: changes in the work, in the workplace, and in the worker's activity. Changes in the work or product are considered the highest level of change and, of necessity, bring about changes in the workplace and in the worker's activities. Case studies illustrate the three levels of changes.